Sharkbait Down Under

Vicki Corcoran’s POV

Los Angeles, California

Sunday, September 24th, 2034

It had been a good day, and it could get a lot better tonight. “I can’t believe it,” I said as I looked at the Emmy statue on the bedside table of our hotel room.

“You guys deserve it, and I feel great about tonight. Shark Tails is a hit because of you.” Nicholas zipped up my tiger-shark-inspired dress from my signature Bodyglove line. I checked my makeup one last time. “I’m ready.”

Today was a reunion for me, as our groups from our reality series and my Cape Cod documentary gathered. Earlier today had been the ceremony for the minor awards.

The Emmy Awards recognized excellence in television programming, but there was no way the primetime shows could cover all one hundred and twenty-five categories. At nineteen years of age, I’d won the Emmy for “Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program.” It was sitting on the bedside table, ready to go back with us to the theater.

It would join a few other statues on our table. Linda had taken two awards so far for Shark Tails. She won individually for “Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program,” and together with Fiona Corcoran and Carly Kanoheh for “Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Series.” Erik Johnson, the Producer/Director that hired me for the 'Sharks of Cape Cod' documentary, won for “Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program.”

Our security team knocked, and it was time to go. I grabbed my award, and we walked out of our room, joining the rest of my team in the hallway. The Navy made special arrangements for our SEALs to attend the awards. The publicity of the SEAL trainees appearing on our reality show had been a boon to recruitment, and it was easy to see why. Ensign Kai Steele was in his formal Mess Dress uniform; black pants, gold cummerbund, ribbed white dress shirt with a black bowtie, and a white jacket with his shoulder boards and medals. Amy was on his arm, wearing one of the new Bodyglove Maternity dresses in ocean blue. Petty Officers Ricardo and Manuel Jimenez looked great in their dress white crackerjack uniforms with the beautiful Makani and Noelani holding their arms, each in coral-colored mermaid-cut gowns. Linda rounded out our group with her husband Matt in his Australian Navy dress uniform. Our group went down the elevators to the waiting limousines, bodyguards surrounding us the whole way.

It was a dream come true to walk the Red Carpet of a major awards show. We’d dealt with cameras and paparazzi before, but this was a step beyond. I talked to several reporters on the way inside, smiling and posing for photos. The producers scheduled us to arrive before the television stars and bigwigs. We found our table near the back and set our hardware down as they brought us champagne and sparkling cider. We had ninety minutes to kill before the program started, so Nicholas and I got to talk to the Hollywood elite before returning to our seats.

I wasn’t seated for long. “In the category of Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, the winner is; Sharks of Cape Cod, Producer and Director Erik Johnson, Host Vicki Corcoran, Expedition Leader, Dr. John Holliday, and Captain Stueben Merrill.” Discovery Channel had the table next to us, and we erupted in cheers. I joined Erik and his team on the way to the stage. He gave a short speech, and I accepted my second Emmy of the night.

“Congratulations, love,” Nicholas said as I returned to the table. I’d barely sat down when our final category of the night came up.

The host read the nominees for the Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program, and the cameras showed our table as they called out Shark Tails. “And the winner is? Shark Tails, Producer Vicki Corcoran and Director Linda Cartwright.”

I let out a scream, and everyone at our table jumped up. Linda and I walked onto the stage where I accepted another trophy, but I had a speech to give this time. “Thank you so much. I’d like to thank Linda Cartwright and her team for bringing our adventures to the screen. Working with Amy, Makani, Noelani, Linda, and a thousand some sharks has been a dream. I’d also like to thank everyone at Discovery for giving our team a chance, and especially my support back home. Mom and Dad, Ivan and Karen, Unky Leo and Aunt Adrienne, I love you all, and I love my husband Nicholas so much. Thank you.”

Linda thanked her husband and a few others, then we exited the stage to the left. After photographs, we headed back to our table to watch the rest of the evening’s awards. I was floating on clouds, looking down occasionally to see the three statues lined up in front of me on the table. “I can’t believe we won,” I told Nicholas.

“You guys worked hard for this show, and it shows,” he responded as he squeezed my hand. “Do you know what is going to be fun?”

“What?”

“Negotiations for Season Three. With Season One an award-winning hit and Season Two filming wrapped up? You’ve got them over a barrel.”

“I’m glad we built those escalators and conditions into the contract. I’ve had a lot of fun with the after show, too.” The “Shark Tails After Dark” show only took a day to make but was a lot of fun to do. We’d even done live broadcasts from the Sea Scout. I loved talking to the fans and all the little contests we would do. It was making Sharkbait Productions and the Discovery Channel a boatload of money.

We partied late into the night, with the four of us invited to some of the better Hollywood parties. Two agents tried to convince me to get into acting, but I had no interest. “All I want is my mate, my Pack, and my sharks,” I told Nicholas after one of them left us.

Our group met for a late brunch the next morning, and I had an announcement. “I’m moving Sharkbait Productions and the Sea Scout to Adelaide after this season finishes taping,” I told my friends.

No one seemed shocked. “I expected that,” Amy said. “It makes sense now that you, Linda, and Fiona are all living there already. Does this mean you’d be doing production on an Aussie schedule?”

I nodded. “The Scout will arrive in Adelaide in early November. We’ll film from December through March.”

“I won’t be able to do that,” Amy said as she rubbed her large pregnancy bump. “I won’t be in bikini shape for six months to a year, if ever. Kai ruined me for modeling,” she teased.

“You’ve never been more beautiful,” Kai said as he embraced his mate.

I smiled at my best friend. “I still want you to be part of the show,” I said. “We’ll figure out something.”

“It might be better for me to bow out gracefully and move on,” she said. “Kai will be in training, and I’m not going to leave my babies for any length of time. We’ll stay in Coronado unless he’s gone for a while.”

Dang. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Even if we stayed in North America to film, I’d still bow out.” She looked at Kai and smiled. “I don’t need the money, and I don’t want to be gone from my babies. I’m going to take care of them and return to school while my in-laws watch them.”

“Maybe I can find a cameo, or we can set something up closer.” She nodded, but her mind was made up. “What about you two?”

Makani looked at Noelani for help. “It’s going to be hard,” she said. “We don’t know what schools they will be attending, and then they join their Teams. I can’t be gone for months only to get back before he deploys for a year.”

Noelani agreed with her twin. “We’re going to have to see what orders Manuel gets. We don’t even know which coast we’ll be on yet.” Nothing came easy with a military wife, even a famous one.

As we said goodbye at the airport, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Life was pulling us apart; mates, children, responsibilities, all the real-life things that adulting brought. Nicholas could tell I was feeling down as we waited at the gate for our flight to Minneapolis; he didn’t say anything, but he didn’t let me go. I started nodding off as he was texting people on his phone.

The ding on my phone caused me to look down. It was a text from Unky Leo. “See you in a few hours, Sharkbait. I’m making ribs.”

I smiled as I composed my reply. “I love you, Unky.” Everything was going to be all right.